North West News

It was a great result for Pioneer 79's ‘Marshall Mercedez Benz of Bolton’ sponsored Arena League Team at Blackpool this weekend, there were some great performances from the Pioneer swimmers throughout the evening with everyone giving 110%!

The Accrington based club have been involved in the Arena League for the last 15 years and, following some excellent results in the past, they have worked their way up through the Leagues and compete in the Premier League of the North West Arena League. The Arena League currently has 400 teams participating throughout the country, which is split into 7 Regions; East Midlands, London, North East, North West, South, Western and West Midlands. Each Division is then split again into 3 or 4 leagues with teams battling between themselves to gain places into the Premier League. Similar to football leagues, the top/bottom two in each of the lower leagues will be promoted/relegated each year, whilst the top team in each of the ‘Premier’ Leagues, after the ‘A’ Final in their Region, will then go forward and ‘battle it out’ at the Grand Final which is held at a different venue each year, usually in April.

Over the past few years there have been all too regular reports to League Officers of Clubs competing with swimmers who do not meet the eligibility criteria of the League. The particular point in question is the requirement that all competitors must be registered with the ASA, as members of the competing Club from, and including, 1st October in the year of competition. These reports lead to a considerable amount of time having to be spent by league officials trying to establish the facts. The amount of work falling to League Officers has become unreasonable and will not continue.